Neolithic play

Commissioned by arts organisation Create for Barking’s Abbey Leisure Centre and realised by Turner nominee Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, The Idol invites children to lose themselves in a monochromatic world of twisting alleyways, multi-storey slides and ball pits. The idea pays homage to the Dagenham Idol, a wooden Neolithic effigy found near the site in 1922. Abbey Leisure Centre ‘wanted a play space unlike any other,’ says Create. ‘Ancient and modern spectacle collide and merge, from Greek myth to ancient Egyptian statues to sci-fi cyborgs.’

The Big Picture: The Idol merges the ancient with the futuristic to create a Neo-Tolkien space that children and parents can enjoy at the same time.